Nebraska Newspapers

    THE 8EMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
CONGRESS VOTES
FOR
CONSCIPTION
BOTH HOUSES OVERWHELMING
LY PASS DRAFT MEASURE.
MEN TO BE CALLED SEPT. 1
Bodies Differ On Age Limit War De.
partment Heads Will Handlo
Exemptions Bill to Deport
Enemies Soon.
Washington, D. C The Unltcil
States will raise its army of 'J.OOO,'
000 by selective conscription. -
The draft army bill passed both
houses of congress shortly before
midnight last Saturday, the house by
u vote of U07 to 21, and' tlie senate,
81 to S.
The vote came after the volunteer
system advocates had fought llrecoly
against the overwhelming current for
the draft.
Senators voting against tho bill
were :
Horah (Idaho), Gore (Okla.), Groti
na (N. D.) llardwlck (Ga.), Klrby
(Miss.), La Follcttc (Wis.), Thomas
(Colo.), and Trammel.
In tho house eight republicans,
fourteen democrats and London (N.
Y.), socialist, and Randall (Cnl.),
prohibitionist, voted against the bill.
Tlie others voting against In tho
house were:
Bacon (Mich.), Harnett (Ala.),
Church (Cnl.), Clark (Fin.), Clay
pool (Ohio), Dill (Wash.), Domlnlck
(S. C), Gordon (Ohio). Hayes (Cnl.),
Milliard (Colo.), Iluddleston (Ala.),
Keating (Colo.), King (111.), La Fol
lette (Wash.), Lunden (Minn.), Ma
son (111.), Nolan (Cal.), Powers (Ky.),
Hears (Fla.), Sherwood (Ohio), Sis
sou (Miss).
Many details of the draft bill, in
cluding exemptions, are up to the
war department to decide.
Joint conferences must settle dif
ferences between tho two measures.
Tho senate bill authorizes the Roose
velt division which tho house re
jected. The senate voted the army
and congress dry, while nrmy prohibi
tion was thrown out by the house.
Tlie senate bill would draft men
lK!twecn 21 and 27; the house be
tween 21 and 40.
Other minor differences pertaining
to exemption and tho like will have
to he smoothed out. ,
Sneaker Clark, Minority Lender
Kltchin, Representative .Teanctto Ran
kin and others who voted ngninst tho
Kahn amendment, lined up for the
hill.
Will Call' Men September 1.
The Wnr department announced
ofllclnlly that the first 500,000 men
witt bo called to tho colors by con
scription, about September 1 next.
Should the wnr Inst another yenr,
two out of every five of America's
able-bodied men will bo called out.
The war machine will begin forma
tion with voluntary registration of
men eligible.
Stackers will he gone nfter later.
Of the 7,000.000 who will register,
between 000.000 and 800.000 will ho
drawn by tho jury wheel system.
After physical, industrial and oth
er exemptions are allowed, It Is ex
ported 500,000 will remain to be
placed in training.
Construct New Guns.
Tlie second 1.000.000 men raised
will be provided with the British En
field rifles. It was announced that tho
government is constructing two new
foreign types of. field pieces.
Chairman Webb of the house Ju
dciary committee announced that In
tho near future n hill will he intro
duced In congress providing that all
citizens of allied countries, who are
of military age, shall be rounded up
and turned over to their respective
governments.
Fear World Famine.
Washington. Tho French wnr mis
sion has Informed tho American gov
eminent that the things France needs
most from the United States aro
money, food, retlllzers, coal, steel, oil
and transportation equipment, especil-
ly ships In which to carry goods from
tho now to the old world.
Ono of tho foremost purposes of
tho French mission, It has become
known, Is to Impress upon tho
American government and people tho
serious food situation In Europe.
Members of tho economic section of
tho mission believe there Is serious
danger of a world famine and are pre
pared to submit evldenco that all tho
world Is seriously threatened with
fnmlno because of tho withdrawal of
men from ngrlculturo, the lack of fer
tilizers and tho derangement of trans
portntlon facilities.
Russian Generals Replaced.
Petrograd. As a result of the visit
of War Minister Guckhoft to the
southwestern front, twenty-threo gen
erals, Including some generals of di
visions, have been replaced. On all
fronts 114 officers holding headquar
ters commands havo been removed.
Workmen In munitions factories, who
were sent tq the front under orders
Issued undor the RomanofT regime for
participation in strikes, aro being re
cnlled. Gorky, Andrecf nnd other
-writers ore doing proDairnndn work.
Rolling stock of railroads In Europo
Is rapidly bolng worn out through tho
lack of lubricants, it Is declared, ami
moro rallwny supplies aro urgently
needed, Tho growing scarcity of trans
portatlon facilities on the seas makci
It Imperative, the Fronchmen bellovo,
that the United States carry out
quickly Its plan for a large lleet of
wooden ships to assist In tho struggle
ngninst Germnny.
Tho mission bellovcs It n fallacy to
assume that oven penco would greatly
alter food conditions, for thoso now
on tho verge of starvation will need
great quantities of food before they
can produco It themselves.
It Is felt that tho seriousness of tho
situation Is Increased by the almost
universal crop failure.
It Is said that the Germans rocently
have made extraordinary efforts to
send to tho bottom vessels carrying
grain to tho allies. Second choice for
sinking Is said to bo boats carrying
steel and after them the Germans
have tried to sink coal-laden ships.
U. Boats' Success Alarms.
Evidence of growing success for
tho ruthless German submarine block-
ade has forced the problem of sup
plying the entente quickly with food
and other necessities sharply Into tho
forefront of the wnr program.
Aroused by Information brought to
this country by the British and
French war missions, tho administra
tion has set about to launch with Its
full force as speedily as possible their
campaign to break down tho blocknde.
Although detnlls of the steps to bo
taken have not been made public. In
dications nre that more energetic
measures might be expected soon to
speed up the work of relieving tho
food situation In the entente coun
tries. These measures, It wns pre
dicted, would be the first to take form
ns n result of the international war
conferences here.
Acceleration of the shipping board's
program for n grent fleet of wooden
ships to carry foodstuffs Is regarded
as certain. Officials nre convinced
thnt It Is imperative xc get the ships
into the water much sooner thnn had
been planned.
To Increase the Trans-Atlantic ton
nage the board nlso is striving to put
tho Gorman nnd Austrlnn ships Into
service as quickly as possible, and to
transfer to foreign trade many coast
wise and Great Lakes steamers.
Early aetlon on food control legis
lation Is forecasted.
Think War Will Last Long.
While definite ascendancy over tho
German war machine has been estab
lished by tho allied forces In Franco.
both In personnel and equipment, and
eventual victory Is In sight, mnny
months of bitter fighting still nre
nhend.
This Is the view of mllltnry ex
perts nttnehed to Franco's war com
mission, as gathered by officers of
tho American general staff, during In
formal conversations nt the wnr de
partment.
May Need Half Billion Monthly.
Preliminary reports to the Treas
ury department, upon which Secretnry
McAdoo will base his recommenda
tions to tho president ns to tho size
of tho first bond Issue under tho
.$7,000,000,000 wnr flnnnce lnw. Indi
cate that tho United States will bo
called upon to flnnnce the allies to
tho extent of nt least $-100,000,000 and
possibly $500,000,000 a month.
The tentative program nlso cnlls for
the expenditure of virtually every
dollar of tho borrowed money In this
country for foodstuffs, clothing, rail
way equipment nnd other supplies.
Government to Aid Farmers.
To aid tho farmers of tho nntlon In
meeting the food sltuntlon, the gov
ernment hns taken steps to throw re
sources approximating $100,000,000
Into tho breach.
The action was announced by the
treasury department that all postal
savincs departments would be made
available for loans to farmers.
No Hope for Entombed Miners.
Hastings, Colo. Hope of saving
any of the 120 miners entombed In
tho Ilnstlngs mine of tho Victor
American Fuel Co. hero has been
abandoned.
Sixty hours after tho explosion
only eighteen bodies had been brought
out nnd only three moro hnd been
located in the mine. One huudred and
forty-one orphans and sixty-two wid
ows Is ono result of the explosion. In
some families ns mnny ns ten children
wore left fatherless. Representatives
of the state indsutrlul commission and
of tho insurance company In which
tho company carried employers' lia
bility Insurance, have began a sur-
vey of tho needs of the dead men's
families. Definite figures on tho
amount that will be distributed aro
not available, but unofficial estimates
place It nt between $150,000 nnd
$175,000.
Tho mine Is badly damaged beyond
tho fourth north entry and consider
able rock has fallen.
Advocates Industrial Army.
Sioux City. Ia. Organization of an
Industrial nrmy to Increase tho food
production of tho United Stntos,
which would receive the same recog
nition from tho government ns Its ar
my forces, wns advocated In a reso.
Iiltlon adopted hero nt a conference
of food producers from Iowa, South
Dakota ryid Nebraska. A n result
of the conference the Interstate In
creased Production Association of
Iowa, Nobraska and South Dakota
wns formed.
1 Count Julius Andrassv, former
tion of the cabinet. 2 Cannon In Lafayette park, Washington, near the White House, plugged to prevent any
chance of their being tired. -Portuguese expeditionary force arriving atllrest, France, to help light the Ger
mans. 1- Mrs. Waldo Pierce enlisting
Port Washington, L. I.
THE PAST WEEK
First American Shot in the Great
War Destroys a German
U-Boat.
FIRED BY LINER MONGOLIA
Destruction of Shipping by Subma
rines Now Threatens England
With Food Shortage Great
Britain Gets Money From
Uncle Sam.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD.
Amerlcu's llrst shot In the war with
Germany was tired on April 11). It
scored a direct hit and destroyed a
German submarine. The shot was
llred by the gun crew on tho American
liner Mongolia when a U-boat attempt
ed to attack that vessel In tho Irish sea.
Tho llrst shell smashed tho periscope
and after other shells were sent there
was an explosion and tho submarine
did not rise again. Capt. Emery ltlco
of the Mongolia told of tho Incident
on arrival In an English port. It Is
Interesting to note that the gun that
got the U-boat had been named Theo
dore Roosevelt by the gunners.
Tho destructive work of tho sub
marines is causing Increasing anxiety
in Great Britain. The latest weekly
report of the admiralty shows a much
larger number of ships sunk than did
any previous report, and on Wednes
day Lord Davenport, the British fond
controller, solemnly warned the Brit
ish public that severe privations
Menaced the nation before the next
harvest was reached. This aroused
the London press to gloomy comment,
the burden of which was that tho sub
marine blockade was the most serious
feature of the war now and that If
Great Britain was to be saved from
starvation and possible defeat some
thing must bo done mighty soon to
counteract it. This something, ob
viously, Is the turning out from tho
shipyards of a vast and continuous
stream of tonnage, but though many
ships are being built, tho shortngo of
skilled labor renders It Impossible to
construct anywhere near the number
required. The great British navy Is
powerless to relieve the sltuntlon. No
one over there seems nblo to suggest
any solution of the problem except to
be careful of the food supply und pre
pare for the worst.
The food question Is serious else
where. It was responsible In largo
part for tho strikes In Germany and
Is the chief cause of demonstrations
that are alarming the Swedish gov
ernment. In Franco mentless dinners
except Sundays and holidays began
Wednesday, and already in the United
States tho hotels and clubs aro cut
ting down their menus. j
Plans for larger crops and moro
farm labor In Amcrlcn were carried
nearer to completion during tho pnst
week. Ono notable Incident was tho
departure of 000 students of tho agri
cultural college of the University o"f
Illinois to help raise Canada's wheat
crop. They are to be well paid and
the Dominion government will give to
each of them a homestead of 1C0 acres.
On a moment's thought such a move
ment ns this must win npprnvnl, for n
bumper crop In Cannda will do tho
civilized world as much good as ono
In the United States, and the Do
minion has been depleted of labor.
Great Britain Gets First Loan.
Speedy work Is being done In tho
way of supplying the Immedlato needs
of the allies of tho United States. In
the first conferences with the commis
sioners from England and France the
government was told that tho most
urgent of theso needs were money,
ships and food. It was agreed that
tho llrst allotment of the $.,00(),0OO.0O0
loan would go to Great Britain, ami on
Wednesdny Secretnry of the Treasury
McAdoo handed to tho British umlms
sudor a treasury warrant for $200,000,-
000. ArrnngoinontH for disposing of
the immense bond Issue are practical
Hungarian premier, who organized a
students of Columbia college In the
ly completed and France and Italy nnd
Russia will get their share soon. Most
f the money, It Is understood, will be
expended in the United States.
The commissioners agreed that,
next to supplying money, America
could give tho best help by continuing
to furnish food and by llndlng tho ves
sels for Its transport to Europe, and
they were pleased with tho plans for
building a great lleet of wooden ships.
General JolTre, however, expressed the
hope that In tho near future a largo
contingent of American troops would
be on the lighting line under the Stars
and Stripes, holding that tho moral
ofTect of that would bo tremendous.
All of tho commissioners concurred
In tho statement that they were hero
not to attempt to dictate to our gov
ernment, but to advise nnd usslst It
to the best of their ability and with
their wealth of experience.
President Wilson, in n conference
with Mr. Bnlfour, voluntnrlly gavo as
surances thnt the United Stntes will
light until It achieves victory, and
thereupon tho head of the British mis
sion declared that the entente allies
would seek no treaty of alliance, no
signature of the entente pledge not to
make a separate pence with Germnny.
Germans Resist Desperately.
"This Is. the last and deciding push,
for we soon shall bo able to hold out
no longer" rends the dlury of a Ger
man officer who was captured last
Monday, and that seems to be the
opinion of the German commander in
chief, judging by tho desperate opposl
tlon he Is putting up against the drlyo
of the allies In northern France. Re
sumlng their part of the offcnslvo at
the beginning of tho week, the British
have ninde considerable progress, es
peclally along tho roads from Arras
und Bapaunio to Cnmhrni. In the semi
open lighting their heavy howitzers
were of little use, but their Held guns
nnd machine guns were handled with
wonderful skill and rapidity and tho
Germans suffered enormously. Von
Illndenburg threw his reserves Into
the battle with n prodigality that as
tonlshed his adversaries, and the Teu
tons gave ground slowly and made re
peated and fierce counter-attacks
which, however, were of little avail
and left the ground covered with their
slain. The German line, thanks to
the astounding numbers of men Von
Illndenburg has been able to bring up,
is still unbroken, but it Is badly bat
tered and Is being pushed back fur
ther and further toward the frontier,
The superiority of tho British In tho
air was demonstrated on Monday In
tlie most spectacular manner. Tho
mon of the Royal Flying corps met tho
nlr squadrons of the Germans at an
altitude of 15,000 feet and put them
to rout, destroying -10 of their air
planes, with the loss of hut two of
their own machines. Tho young Brit
lsh pilots then carried out a series of
daring bombing raids.
The French devoted much of tho
week to destructive artillery fire In
preparation fpr their next part In the
"see-saw" that Is being carried on with
such skillful co-operation by Hnlg ant
Mvclle, and by Thursday their infan
try was again In action.
On the Italian, Macedonian nnd Rou
manian fronts little of moment has
taken plnce. In Mesopotamia tho
British nre still ndvnnclng, but the ex
pedition from Egypt thnt Is moving up
through Palestine has found the re
enforced Turkish forces holding a
strongly Intrenched position extending
from Gaza toward Beersheba. Portu
gal, having decided to tako a moro
active part In the conflict In Europe,
has sent a largo contingent of troops
to northern France.
There hns been some stirring activ
ity recently In tho neighborhood of
tho Straits of Dover. Two British de
stroyers encountered a flotilla of six
German destroyers and after a furious
combat put tho foe to rout. Tho Gcr-
mnn bonts were rammed and torpe
doed and ruked by gunfire nnd at least
two of them were sunk. Tho British
vessels suffered severely but were ublo
to return to port.
Wednesday morning a German de
stroyer flotilla bombarded Dunkirk
but was driven off by tho coast bat
terlos and tho allied patrol bonts. Ono
French torpedo bont wns sunk.
Russian Situation Dangerous,
Tho courso of events In Russia Is
being wntched with renewed anxiety.
' '
coalition party and caused the resigna
aviation corps sue is organizing at
I
Die Gerninu und Austrian Socialist
peace propagandists have tnken from
one of President Wilson's addresses
tho phrnse of "a pence without vic
tory" and aro using It with some ef
fect. The (Ilium and the delegates rcp-
cscntlng thu various classes in tho
councils are us linn as ever against
oucludlng a separate peace, intt they
do not' Hud the masses of uniformed
people easy to control. Germany Is
reported to have started the expected
movement to cut off Petrograd from
the army, a large naval and military
expedition having left Lilian, presum
ably for Permit! or Reval, and at such
an inopportune time a groat many
Russian soldiers are deserting. These
deserters are peasant soldiers who aro
hastening to their homes In fear that
there will be a distribution of lands
of which, In their absence, they will
not get their share. The old agrarian
trouble is coming to a head and despite
the assurances of the authorities that
It cannot be settled until the const!
tuent assembly acts, the nensnnts aro
In many localities taking the matter
Into their own hands.
As for the threutcned German of
fensive, the lenders of the new Rus
shin government assert that It will bo
a good thing for Russia oven if tho
enemy should occupy Potrogrnd, for
It will unite the nation In determlnn
tlon to fight the war to the finish and
nullify the efforts of the Teuton So
cialists. The Russian Baltic lleet and
army sent n wireless messngo to ths
allied lteets saying tney were in com
pleto readiness to defend free Russia
President Wilson has selected tho
Members of u commission that will
visit Russia to pay this nation's re
spects to the now government, and
Ellhu Root has consented to bo Its
chairman. The other members will bo
Edwnrd T. Hurley, Dunlei Wlllnrd and
Oscar S. Straus.
Spain Warns the Kaiser.
On Tuesday Spain sent to Germany
u note concerning submarine warfare,
with the warning that Spanish pa
tience was nearly exhausted. The
Imperial government consented to n
parley for the "mitigation of the dtlll
cultles which have arisen In Spain.'
King Alfonso has tried diligently to
preserve ifeutrallty, hut It seems as If
his efforts wcro doomed to failure.
'I'lit-lrnv linvltm uovor.ut ,1ll,,.,.Ho
... ....... .......
relations with the United States, the
representatives of the two nations
started for home.
Reports that came from Europe dur
ing the week told of n revival of thu
attempts to oust Bethninnu-llollweg
from power because of his support of
tho plans of thu Socialist Scheldcmann
for a penco without annexation and
Indemnities. Thu pan-Germans, con
servatives and liberals all aro oppos
ing the chancellor In this. But Ger
many's foes should not count too much
on such demonstrations, any more
than on the strikes there, for there Is
no reason to believe any of them por
tend the overthrow of Prussian autoc
racy the one thing, probably, that
can bring tho war to an early con
clusion.
Mayor Thompson of Chicago suc
ceeded on Thursday in attracting some
attention to himself. He Issued n
printed statement on tho food short
age In which he attacked conscription,
argued for a ban on food exports and
assailed the wur policies of the admin
istration. Tho same day ho evinced
a disinclination to extend to Marshal
.Toffre and the French mission an in
vitation to visit Chicago, saying he
thought some of tho people "might not
be wildly enthusiastic about It." Mayor
Thompson Is overly careful about tho
stability of his Teutonic political
fences, for Chicago is decidedly en
thusiastic over tho proposed visit by
the French commissioners and will
glvo them n splendid welcome. Plans
for the event are being made, tho
mayor being Ignored.
The Wisconsin senate gavo a lesson
to disloyal citizens by expelling from
membership Senator Frank Raguso of
Milwaukee, u Socialist, for refusal to
retract alleged disloyal statements
made by him on the floor of the senate.
, At tho hour of writing It appears
ccrtuln that tho government selectlvo
couscrlptlou bill will bo passed by
both bonnes of congress. Agreements
were secured in both senate and houso
thnt assured n voto not later thun
midnight Saturday.
LECTURE ON JOURNALISM.
"See here," snapped the city editor
jto the cub reporter, "you've crammed
,thls obituary notlco full of llowery
,coniplInients."
"But I thought"
"This man didn't die in Jail, did ho?'
"No, sir."
"lie was not killed while trying to
rob a safe?"
"No, nlr."
"Ami ho wasn't shot down In a run
ning battle with the police?"
"Of courso not, sir."
"Well, when a citizen dies a natural
ilenth In bed, surrounded by his weep
ing relatives, the public takes It for
granted that ho had his good points."
Nothing But the Truth.
"Yes," said Stormlngton Barnes, "wq
did well In the West. At a one-night
stand in Arizona we played to a $10
000 house."
"Say, what are you giving mo?"
queried Walker Tlea.
"Facts," answered the grent and
Jfoot-soro tragedian. "The ono mnn
who comprised the uudlenco wns said
to he worth fully that amount."
How She Felt.
Mrs. lllgglns And so you hnvo bo-
.cured your divorce, I hear?
Mrs. Wiggins Yes, I'm glnd to Baj
that I have.
Mrs. lllgglns How did you feel
when you heard tho Judge's decision?
Mrs. Wiggins Well, I felt sort o
unmanned, as It were.
BIRD, BEAST OR FI8H?
"He's a beast."
"Ho certainly la a bird."
"Well, at least ho is a queer Ash."
Ah, Yes.
friio wtucHt man nomotlmos robels
, At Strict COnvOIIllon-nnu BOIS pilUBIIl,
,,, , font ah fnnnv ilwnllH
Behind a cumsio ttomo of thought.
Heartless Hortense.
"Yes, I've had a dozen men at my
cot during tho seastvi Just past."
"Chiropodists and shoo clerks, I sup
pose."
Strict Thrift
"Did that taciturn old miser do any
thing nt the chnrlty bnzar?"
"No, ho spoilt nothing; not even his;
lircnth."
As the Wind Blows.
Heinle Breezely has retired from
Uie prize ring for keeps.
Omar So? witnt's no doing now
Heinle Filling nutomobllo tires.
Ohl
"He Is very loose In his hnblts."
"Whnddye mean, loose in his hub
ts?"
"He gets tight."
The Condition.
"I wonder If 1 could touch Guy foif
a fiver?"
"Not If bo's a wlso Guy."
Easily Answered.
"Pa, what Is Easy street?"
"It leads off Hard Work avenue, inyi
Bon."
At the Club.
"lias old Millions much of a famlly?"i
"Numerous but not much 1"
ReallBtlc Story.
"Havo you revlowed that now book
entitled 'The Editor's Purse'?" usked
the critic's other hnlf.
"I merely glnnced through It," re-,
piled the masculine end of tho sketch,
"There's absolutely nothing In It."
Fitness of Things.
"i suppose,' reiiiariieu me incuu ot
4lm tmtttli, .i-iw,t.ifl Imuliiiiifl ''Mid tiaiinl
jHhower of rlco fell ns you entered tho
nrrlnge."
"No, It rained beans," ho replied. "I
married n Boston girl, you know."
' '
4